At this moment, the chips won by the "Chip Exchange Machine" had been neatly stacked inside by a mechanical arm, enclosed by a thick, heavy transparent glass cover.
In that instant, Qin Yao had a few thoughts, like what would happen if she snatched the chips directly from the mechanical arm during the gamble?
But she quickly dismissed the idea, because she was firmly locked in her seat during the entire exchange process and couldn't reach the chips at all; moreover, the "Arcade" had made it very clear that any behavior that broke the rules would inevitably be punished by a "deduction of visa time" or even "deportation."
Don't court death by crossing the red line.
Leaving the small cubicle of the chip exchange, Qin Yao felt her vision brighten, and she greedily breathed in the fresh air.
Compared to that dark, cramped, and somewhat oxygen-deprived narrow cubicle, the area outside was like heaven.
This place was a bit like the lounge area of a high-end tavern or coffee shop, with spacious sofas, exquisite coffee tables, and an old record player playing a vinyl record, its melodious sound inexplicably adding a touch of artistic flair to the whole scene.
In the most spacious area, there were two huge gambling tables, each with 8 seats.
The cubicles of the "Chip Exchange Area," on the other hand, were located at the edge of the entire scene, with a dilapidated and simple appearance, their walls made of rough, uneven concrete, stained with a lot of dirt, a completely different style.
At this time, the doors of the other cubicles also opened one after another.
To Qin Yao's surprise, two familiar faces emerged.
"Sister Jiang He? Auntie Su! We're actually in the same game?"
Qin Yao's joy was palpable, because the people who came out of the adjacent cubicles were acquaintances she already knew from Community 17, Player 2 Jiang He, and Player 8 Su Xiucen.
"Yao Yao! It's so great to see you!" Jiang He also looked very happy, even giving her an excited hug.
"But... what's going on here?" Jiang He frowned, looking at the only cubicle whose door hadn't opened.
Su Xiucen pointed to the opposite side: "Hey, look! There are people over there too!"
Qin Yao followed Su Xiucen's hand and looked towards the other side of the game area, discovering that there were also four "Chip Exchange Area" cubicles there, and four completely unfamiliar faces walked out of them one after another.
And on their side, there were also four cubicles, but one remained closed.
"Is there anyone in there? Could it be someone from our community too? Why haven't they come out?"
Jiang He went forward to take a look, the cubicle door was still tightly locked, and the red indicator meant the internal lock had not been opened, so naturally, it was impossible to enter.
"Hello, is anyone there?"
Jiang He knocked lightly on the cubicle door, but received no response.
Although these cubicles looked very simple, their soundproofing was actually very good. When everyone was inside earlier, they couldn't hear any outside sounds at all.
"Could they have died inside..."
Jiang He's expression changed as this speculation suddenly flashed through her mind.
To exchange for chips, one had to give blood. And if too much blood was drawn, it was entirely possible to fall unconscious or even die.
Su Xiucen subconsciously took a few steps away from the cubicle.
Qin Yao quickly said: "Sister Jiang He, let's not worry about unimportant things for now, the game isn't over yet.
"Look, the screen says we have to play at least one game with players from other communities before we can leave."
Jiang He looked at the two multi-player gambling tables in the center of the area. On the wall directly in front of the multi-player tables was a large screen, which clearly displayed the corresponding game rules.
[Hello, players from Community 3 and Community 17, welcome to "Blood Poker."]
[Players who have finished exchanging chips may proceed to the automatic gambling tables in the center of the area to play.]
[The game rules are still "Simplified Three Card Brag." The specific rules for multi-player games are slightly different. Detailed rules and hand ranking charts can be found in the instructions on the gambling tables.]
[The gambling tables can automatically shuffle, deal, and collect cards according to the rules, helping everyone complete the game in an absolutely fair and just manner.]
[The number of players at a multi-player table is limited to 2 to 8. When a table starts, there must be "at least 1 player from another community."]
[The default ante for multi-player tables is 1000 chips.]
[Once a table game begins, you must complete 10 rounds or use up all your chips before you can leave.]
[Any violent or rule-breaking behavior is strictly prohibited in this game, otherwise it will result in an instant death penalty.]
[The game time is 90 minutes.]
[When the game ends, the Arcade will tally the players' chip counts. After players return to their communities, the chips will be converted into corresponding visa time.]
[If, at the end of the game, you have not played a game with other players, 10000 minutes of visa time will be deducted.]
[Will you make a fortune, or lose everything?]
[The game has begun, good luck!]
A countdown had already appeared on the big screen, but the time was now 1:25:33, which meant that the time spent in the chip exchange area was also included in this one and a half hours.
The bright red numbers kept ticking, and although the "tick-tock" sound wasn't loud, it created an extremely urgent feeling.
Jiang He instantly realized something and asked, "Yao Yao, Auntie Su, how many chips do you have left? I have 19000 left."
Qin Yao counted the chips in her hand: "18000."
Su Xiucen held her chips tightly in her hand: "I also have 18000."
It was obvious that this visa time was very precious to Su Xiucen.
Her remaining visa time was now only 16 days. If she could take these chips with her when she left, her remaining visa time could be doubled.
"You all exchanged 200ML of blood, right? And... you called?" Jiang He asked.
Qin Yao and Su Xiucen looked at each other, then nodded.
Since everyone went through the same process when gambling against the "Chip Exchange Machine," it was easy to guess the specific situation at the time based on the number of remaining chips.
The 1000 chips they had less than Jiang He were clearly the loss from calling to see the cards twice.
Jiang He sighed: "How could you call? You can't have that kind of wishful thinking.
"It's obvious this game is unfair, folding decisively is the right move.
"A little bit of curiosity or disbelief, and you lose a solid 500 chips.
"But this small loss is acceptable. I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to raise or continue gambling under these circumstances."
After speaking, she glanced at the still-closed cubicle, wondering what was going on inside.
Su Xiucen sighed: "I get it, I'll just consider this money a lesson learned..."
As someone who was frugal, losing a thousand for no reason made her feel the sting.
Qin Yao wasn't as upset, just feeling that the game rules were unfair: "This Chip Exchange Machine could have just robbed us directly, yet it pretended to play two rounds with us."
Based on the current win-loss probability, gambling against the "Chip Exchange Machine" was absolutely the worst choice.
The Chip Exchange Machine drawing an extra card greatly increased its probability of forming a better hand, giving it a huge advantage in the game of "Simplified Three Card Brag."
"So what should we do now? Should we gamble with those people?" Su Xiucen was at a loss.
Qin Yao thought for a moment and said, "We probably have to, right?
"If we don't gamble, we'll have ten thousand minutes of visa time deducted directly. But if we do, even if we lose the ante for all ten rounds, it's only ten thousand.
"During that time, as long as we get a relatively strong hand in any round, we can win back quite a bit."
Jiang He shook her head slightly: "It's not that simple.
"The situation at the gambling table changes in an instant. How can you be sure that what you have is a 'relatively strong hand'?
"There's a situation called a 'cooler,' which means you get a pretty good hand, but someone happens to have a hand that's even better than yours.
"In that situation, you confidently raise, only to be wiped out in one go. In that case, the loss probably won't be just ten thousand, but everything."
Qin Yao was a bit doubtful: "But that's a low-probability event, right? If we keep folding because we're afraid of that, won't we never be able to win?"
Jiang He thought seriously for a moment: "I think we still have to go to the table, but we don't necessarily have to gamble completely according to the game rules.
"This game actually has a 'perfect solution'."